In the News
Marin census workers scramble to meet early deadline
by Richard Halstead
Already upended by COVID-19, the effort to count all of Marin's residents in the 2020 census suffered another blow this week by news the count would be cut short. U.S. Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham announced on Monday that the bureau will conclude all counting efforts for the 2020 census on Sept. 30, four weeks early. "Just weeks ago officials at the Census Bureau assured me that they were committed to a complete count and this new decision flies in the face of that commitment," … Continue Reading
July 30, 2020
House Democrat introduces bill to block oil drilling near polar bear dens
by Rachel Frazin
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) has proposed a new bill aiming to prevent oil and gas drilling near polar bear dens, targeting the Trump administration's plans to open up a wildlife refuge in Alaska for drilling. The bill, introduced Thursday, would prohibit oil and gas exploration within one mile of a polar bear maternal denning habitat. "Proposed oil exploration would further threaten this species, crushing and destroying their dens and cause some mother polar bears to abandon their … Continue Reading
July 30, 2020
Eureka to receive $5 million EDA CARES Act Recovery grant allocated by Congress
by Lisa Lebrenjak
EUREKA, Calif. - Eureka will receive a $5 million Economic Development Administration CARES Act Recovery grant to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. On July 29, North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman's office announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce's EDA is awarding over $5.5 million in Recovery Assistance grants allocated by Congress in the CARES Act to capitalize and administer Revolving Loan Funds that will provide critical gap financing to small businesses and entrepreneurs adversely … Continue Reading
July 28, 2020
Park Police chief testifies protesters were not cleared from Lafayette Square for Trump visit
by Rachel Frazin
The head of the Park Police on Tuesday said he knew that President Trump was going to Lafayette Square on June 1, but denied that this was why protesters were cleared from the area before the president's visit, which ended with him posing with a Bible outside St. John's Church. "We were notified earlier in the day that the president was going to visit Lafayette Park to view the damage that was done to the park over the course of the preceding days, but we were not given a time on when he was … Continue Reading
July 27, 2020
Humanist in the House: An Interview with 2020 Humanist of the Year Jared Huffman
by Rachel Deitch
The American Humanist Association (AHA) is pleased to honor Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA) as the 2020 Humanist of the Year at its 79th Annual Conference, "Distant but Together: A Virtual Celebration of Humanism," streaming live online on August 8, 2020. The only humanist and agnostic serving openly in Congress, Representative Huffman founded the Congressional Freethought Caucus in 2018 to promote sound public policy based on reason, science, and moral values while protecting the secular … Continue Reading
July 24, 2020
North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman cosponsors legislation to block federal policing in cities
by Marissa Papnek
WASHINGTON, D.C. - North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman on Thursday announced he joined legislation to block what he called federal paramilitary occupations in Portland and other American cities. Huffman announced his support as an original cosponsor of H.R. 7719, the Preventing Authoritarian Policing Tactics on America's Streets Act. In a press release, his office said the bill would block the Trump administration from deploying federal forces as a "shadowy paramilitary against Americans." The … Continue Reading
July 23, 2020
Congress approves landmark Great American Outdoors Act that has bolstered Sonoma County parks
by Guy Kovner
A bill that sailed through the House on Wednesday and appears headed for President Donald Trump's signature props up funding for federal grants that have helped develop some of Sonoma County's most beloved parks, pools and trails for the past 50 years. The little-known grants, funded by royalties from offshore oil and gas production, have contributed $7.5 million to outdoor recreation projects ranging from 5,000-acre Trione-Annadel State Park to a Russian River boat ramp and city swimming … Continue Reading
July 17, 2020
Democrats say Interior botched polar bear study in pursuit to drill ANWR
by Rebecca Beitsch
Democratic lawmakers are pushing back against Department of the Interior plans to drill in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR,) arguing the agency wasn't thorough before concluding that drilling activity wouldn't harm local polar bears. A review of the environmental impacts of drilling in the area "makes the unsupportable conclusion that industrializing the entire Coastal Plain-including the most important terrestrial denning habitat for among the most imperiled polar bear … Continue Reading
July 16, 2020
Democrats target Confederate monuments in spending bill
by Rachel Frazin
House Democrats are seeking to get rid of Confederate statues and memorials from National Park Service (NPS) land by including requirements in a new appropriations bill to do so. A similar effort failed in 2015, but proponents feel they have a better chance this year amid the national reckoning on race following the May 25 police killing of George Floyd. The fiscal 2021 spending bill for the Interior Department, which oversees the National Park Service, would require NPS to remove all … Continue Reading
July 09, 2020
Northern California Congressmen Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Eradicate Illegal Cannabis Grows on Public Lands
From the office of Congressman Jared Huffman: Congressman Jared Huffman (CA-02) issued the following statement after he and Reps. Doug LaMalfa (CA-01), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Hal Rogers (KY-05), TJ Cox (CA-21), and Doug Lamborn (CO-05) introduced the Protecting Lands Against Narcotics Trafficking (PLANT) Act. This legislation provides resources to help local, state, and federal law enforcement eradicate illegal marijuana grows on public lands and establishes a fund to restore land that has … Continue Reading
July 08, 2020
Democrats press for funding ‘restoration economy’ jobs
by Jennifer Yachnin
House lawmakers are urging support for a new class of "restoration economy" jobs - a number of services targeting the repair or protection of natural areas, from trail work to scientific research - as the nation looks to recover from the downturn triggered by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Democratic members of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands yesterday held a virtual roundtable on the subject, which focused on proposals for a new federal … Continue Reading
July 07, 2020
Lawmakers join fight over Pebble mine transport route
by James Marshall
A trio of Democratic lawmakers last week joined a chorus of tribal and fishing groups raising concerns about the transportation route selected in the Pebble mine plan. The Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District in May announced the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative (LEDPA). It includes a route north of Iliamna Lake leading to a port at Diamond Point where minerals from the proposed Pebble copper-gold mine can be shipped out. The selection came as a surprise to groups … Continue Reading
July 03, 2020
PD Editorial: Huffman places a bet for water in the West and the Post Office
by Jim Sweeney
Rep. Jared Huffman, whose sprawling district covers the entire North Coast, has some big ideas about infrastructure, and he's convinced his colleagues to include them in a new bill. The Moving Forward Act, which was written by Democrats, would invest $1.5 trillion in American infrastructure. It's the sort of bill that lawmakers and even President Donald Trump have talked about for years but never passed. The idea of a huge infusion of cash to improve American infrastructure makes sense today … Continue Reading
July 02, 2020
Huffman, 30 other legislators voice opposition to oil, gas leases off California coast
by Ruth Schneider
North Coast U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) and 30 other representatives from California are opposed to federal efforts to secure new oil and gas leases off the coast of the state. The 31 lawmakers signed a letter sent to Interior Department Secretary David Bernhardt. "There is a reason why every single coastal governor along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, both Republican and Democrat, stand opposed to offshore drilling, as the inevitable spills and the variety of other onshore and … Continue Reading
July 01, 2020
As Democrats Unveil Ambitious Climate Goals, House Lawmakers Press For Green Stimulus
by Alexander C. Kaufman
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi charted a course to zero out all of the United States' planet-heating emissions by 2050, unveiling a Democratic proposal Tuesday that's been hailed by experts as the "most detailed climate plan in U.S. political history." Now nearly five dozen House Democrats want to see those principles applied to the next big piece of legislation coming down the pike. At least 59 legislators signed on Wednesday to a letter demanding that party leaders add more climate … Continue Reading
June 30, 2020
Huffman’s climate action plan includes wind energy
by Shomik Mukherjee
North Coast U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman joined several other members of Congress on Tuesday to announce a climate action plan that includes a host of bills to boost sustainable energy production and cut emissions. The 500-page proposal includes a large handful of climate-related bills, calling for timely legislative action on them. A number of Huffman's own bills are in the plan, including the creation of a "wildfire defense" grant program (HR 5091), which the congressman introduced in … Continue Reading
June 29, 2020
Congressional panel investigates U.S. Park Police tactics during D.C. protest
by Trevor Shirley
WASHINGTON D.C. (NEXSTAR) - The scene of President Trump, posing with a bible in front of St. John's Episcopal Church after protestors were removed by force, became a defining moment of the last month's protests. Now, a congressional panel is investigating what led up to that moment. Lawmakers like California democratic Representative Jared Huffman said it's clear why U.S. Park Police forced the protestors out of Lafayette Park. "Heavily armed U.S. Park Police carried out orders to use … Continue Reading
June 29, 2020
House select committee to unveil long-awaited report
by Nick Sobczyk
After months of pandemic-related delay, the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis will release its report with a news conference tomorrow on the steps of the Capitol. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will join Chairwoman Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) and the panel's other Democrats to unveil the document, widely seen as a guide to climate policy for House leadership. Pelosi created the committee at the outset of the 116th Congress to offer climate policy recommendations to the standing … Continue Reading
June 28, 2020
Rep. Jared Huffman applauds $6 billion earmarked to replace Postal Service vehicles
by Guy Kovner
For six years, Rep. Jared Huffman has been intent on replacing the U.S. Postal Service's aging fleet of gas-guzzling mail delivery vehicles with something better for the environment and the cash-strapped federal agency. Now, a largely overlooked item in the House Democrats' $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill - dubbed the Moving Forward Act - includes $6 billion to make it happen, including a stipulation that at least 75% of the new vehicles must be electric. "It's exciting," said Huffman, a … Continue Reading
June 26, 2020
Democrats’ infrastructure bill has a special delivery: Electric mail trucks
by David Roberts
For months, Democrats in Congress have focused on immediate recovery from the coronavirus, saying they would turn to long-term stimulus when the time is right. The time is apparently right. This week, House Democrats unveiled their Moving Forward Act, a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill. It is capacious: $300 billion for repair of existing infrastructure, $100 billion for public transit, $100 billion for affordable housing infrastructure, $100 billion for broadband, $100 billion for … Continue Reading